This year, we took a small trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. We had never been there before, having small kids and having Alivia who did not (and still does not) like loud noises. And, this place is VERY LOUD!
We left Tuesday after Alivia’s swim class at 10:45. The kids had a morning snack and then the girls started their movie. I left the kids and Chris in charge of car toys, but that left us with toys for the girls and nothing for Asher. He was restless shortly into the 2hr 30 min drive, or something. He wanted up, kept saying he was “stuck” and all I could do was play peek a boo and give him random items in the car to use as toys. It was a long drive. And, our kids just do not sleep in the car! That can be difficult.
We arrived at the Great Wolf Lodge at 1:20 and checked in. We knew that we could check in to swim after 1, but could possibly not get our room until 4. So, I had packed a “beach bag” for the swim park area. The people in front of us checked in and got a room. When it was our turn, there was not a room available. So, we headed down to the water park and hoped the kids would last without naps.
The water park is amazing. There is a great zero entry area for little kids where we spent a lot of time. Asher liked to walk through the area and splash. The bottom of the pool is rough, so my knees paid a price! There were 3 slides that all the kids did go down. Alivia was really afraid at first, but could not stop going down them once she started. Asher even went down. Addison went down first, but did not go down again. There were water slides to go down with and without rafts that were fun, the lazy river, water basketball, water “play set,” the hot tub, the 1,000 gallon bucket of water that dumped every 5 minutes, and so much more! The kids mostly stuck to the basketball court area (that was 3-4 foot deep) and the toddler area, the basketball pool, and the hot tub (which Addison really liked since her teeth were chattering about 90% of the time!). Chris and I went down the water slides, but we could not encourage the kids to try it. Asher was definitely too small to hold his own, but Addison and Alivia would have had fun if we could only get them to go down them (and they have to go down alone on the slides without tubes).
At 4:30, we tried to get our room again. No luck. Okay, Chris was now annoyed. We paid for the room starting at 4…what is the deal? So, the lady gave Chris “another” room. After getting cleaned up, having dinner, we went out for a treat, a big chocolate ice-cream cone! It took Addison at least a half hour to eat this thing, even getting tired of holding it and making me hold it! Next, we went to the arcade. This place was really nice, and the kids had a lot of fun playing ski ball. They got candy from their winnings. Chris and I were amazed at the kids’ excitement in spite of no nap! We then went back to the room to get their pj’s on for the interactive clock tower and story time at 8. Addison really liked this and laughed out loud to the play and story.
We all went to bed shortly after nine. The girls slept in the bunk beds, with Addison choosing to sleep on the top bunk! Asher slept in our pack in play. It was a nice room set up for the 5 of us.
Day two brought on more swimming. We arrived at the water park at 9 so we could get a table and as much swimming in as possible. Day one was hard because we had problems finding a table within eye shot of where we were. So, we rented a locker for our “valuables.” Having a table near the kiddy pool was nice because Addison liked to sit out because she was so cold. One of us could sit with her and watch the rest of us swim. The kids were really tired about noon. Addison asked to go home, and then Alivia followed suit. They were all really tired. So, we picked up subway near-by and went home.
This was our first night in a hotel with our kids. We always seemed to have a baby or had some other excuse. And, we tend to take our vacations at my parents lake home. So, what did we learn about this trip to the Great Wolf?
1. Bring your patience.
2. Bring your cleaning supplies. Our room was sticky everywhere. Um, yuck.
3. Bring a night light. We used the TV set to the starting point (it was blue) as the kids’ night light.
4. Come well rested. Chris and I stayed up late the night before watching a movie (and I knew that was dumb at the time).
5. Essentials to bring: Swim bag (leave the towels at home because they always have nice, warm, clean towels available), plastic bag for wet items, snacks (we brought snacks in although the sign said not to. The snack shop there did not have gold fish crackers or toddler items! Snack are an essential!).night light, extra flip flops. But, bring minimal things to the pool area because we came home one flip flop short.
We gave the Great Wolf Lodge 3 stars out of 5. The water park was probably 4 out of 5 (4 because of lack of tables). The 3 was due to the lack of a room, having to fight for a room, and the stickiness of our room. It was seriously disgusting! We may return in a few years, who knows. I have a difficult time going places more than once unless they were amazing. I mean, our life is so short. Unless we have been everywhere, I don’t want to repeat my travels. Unless, of course, it is to go to my parents’ lake home!
We had a wonderful time on our short trip. The kids went right to sleep once at home. It was fun just to get away to a new place. I miss the Wolf already! Now, back to reality...laundry.
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